Stop-motion for circular-knitting machines.



H. A. HOUSEMAN.

STOP MOTION FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.29, 1912.

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WNW 19656: Mm.

H. A. HOUSEMAN.

STOP MOTION FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.29, 1912.

Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

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INVENTOI? Hanyl. /%u.9eIr/an rfmfdiau. 55%466 UNITED STATES Hana! A. Houseman; or PHILADELPHIA,

rmwsynvama.

PATENT OFFICE.

rmiwsrrlvanm, ASSIGNOR TO'STANDARD MACHINE COMPANY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A. CORPORATION or STOP-MOTION FOR GIRCULARQ-KNITTING MACHINES.

Original applicat'ion filed-Hay 17, 1912,

To all whom it may concern:-

Be-it known that 1 HARRY A. HopssMAN, a. citizen oi the: United; States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Ph ladelphia,- and State-.ofi Pennsylvania; hcveinvented a new and useilul Improvement in Stop-Motions fon Girculan-Knitting- Machines, of which the. following, is a full, clean, and exact descniption, referencebeing had to the ac companying drawings, which form a .part

' moved; Fig.2 is-a sectional plan on the line- 2-.2of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section ofthe machine;'Fifg; 1 1s a partial-section on the line-4+4 o Flg. 3; F 1g.

5 isasection on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1,.

showing thebelt shifting mechanism.

a'is-the-frameof the machine and b the upper'bed plate. Projecting' upwardfrom the bed-plate b is aspider 0 on which reststhe nonvrotatable needle cylinder (1. Theneedle cylinder d has slots-e extending from the inner periphery outward. These slots contain; the needles f which are operated from needle levers g pivoted. on the comb h.. The coinb it rests on thebed. plate b. Therotatable cam cylinder a is located within.

the needle-cylinder d.

Resting on the. needlecylinder d is the" sinker head- It having; the cap j having camsadapted to actuate. the smkers or webholders-l.

The cam=cylinderi and-the sinker cap 7'- are rotated and oscillated together. The cam cylinder at itslower part has on itsouter face agear 11 engaging the outer gear 13 of a ring-12. The r-ing12 carries also an inner gear 14 which en ages a pinion 15-on the-shaft 16.- Thesha t 16 also-carrice a pinion 17' which: engages a gear 18- Speoificatt'on of Letters-I 'atent.

Paten-tedNov. 18-, 191? on the sinker head la. driving element of the chain of gearing de- 11 and 13 is one to one, between pinion 15 and gear 1 1 one to two, and between gear 17 and gear 18 one to two, and the cam cylinder and siniker head therefore have imparted to them precisely similar movements, as if they were rigidly secured together.

The ring 12, from which both the cam cylinderi and sinker cap 1' derive their movements as above described, is driven from after described. On the clutch shaft 20 are slidably mounted the two pinions 21- and 22, which are adapted to be moved up or down in unison by. means not herein set forth, as the same forms no part ofthis invention. The clutch 23 is fixed on the shaft 20,,betweenpinions 21 and 22. The upper pinion 21 is constantly rotated and the lower pinion 22 constantly oscillated. When the'pinions 21 and 22 are moved'down, thus engaging the rotary pinion 21 with the clutch 23 and disengaging the oscillatory pinion 22, the ring 12 is continuously rosinker cap'j. When the pinions 21 and 22 are elevated, thus disengaging the rotary pinion 21 from the clutch 23 and engaging .the oscillatory pinion-22, the ring 12 is constant}; oscillated, thus oscillating the cam cylin er 6 and'sinker cap 7'. The pinion 21 is constantly rotated by means of a spur gear 25 meshing with the pinion 21. The shaft 26 of .the' spur gear 25 also carries a bevel gear 27' driven from afbevel pinion 28 on the driving shaft t. The pinion 22 is constantly oscillated by the following means: ,On the shaft 26 is a crank 29 connected by alink 30 with an arm 31 turning on a post 32. Extending from the hub of the arm 31 is a quadrant33 engagingthe pinion=22.

The rin thickness tan the gears 13 and 14 carried .by it. The part of the ring 12 projecting shaped casing 35 through=which the up er ,end of. the clutch shaft 20 projects. The .clutch shaft 20 has secured to it spiderv 36. .As latch 37 extendsfrom the axis of the ,shaft 26 through one armofthe spider 36 tated, thus rotating the cam cylinder 21 and ,below the gears13- and 14 rotates in a cup- Serial. No. 697,861. Divided and this application filed October 29, 1912. Serial 1%. 728363. 7

The ring 12 is the scribed. As shown, the ratio between gears,

the clutch-shaft 20 by means to be herein- '12 is of substantially greater into a beveled recess in the inner face of the ring 12. The outer end of the latch 37 is correspondingly beveled and is held in the recess by means of a spring 38. The inner end of the latch is beveled and engages the beveled upper end of a rod 39 extending axially through the clutch shaft 20. It will thus be seen that the drive between the clutch shaft 20 and the ring 12 is not a positive one. So long, however, as there is no obstruction in the knitting mechanism tendin to stop the operation of the cam cylinder i or sinker cap j, these members are driven from the clutch shaft 20 as if the ring 12 were positively secured thereto; but in the event of any obstruction to the operation of the cam cylinder 71 or sinker cap j the latch 37 will be forced inward, thus de stroying the driving connection between the shaft 20 and the rim' 12. At the same time the rod 39 will be depressed, and the ma-' chine stopped by means which I shall now describe (see Figs. 1 and 5).

On the driving shaft :2 are the fixed driving pulley 40 and the loose idle pulley 41.

42 is a'belt-shifter secured to the slidable shaft 43. A spring 44. tends to move the shaft 43 into position to cause the belt shifter 42 to move thcbelt into engagement with the loose pulley 41. By means of a hand lever 45 engaging a collar 46 on the shaft 43, the shaft 43 and belt-shifter 42 may be moved into position to bring the belt into engagement with the driving pulley 40, the shaft 43 being retained in this posit-ion by means of a latch 48 (on the collar 46) dropping back of a lug 49 on a bellcrank'lever 50. The lower end of the rod 39 rests upon one end of an intcrmediately pivoted lever 51, the other end of the lever 51 extending under and between the ends of,

a lever 52. The lever 52 is pivoted at one end and its other end is hooked over one end of a lever 53, the other end of lever 53 engaging one arm of the bell-crank lever 50. When the rod 39 is depressed, as above described, it rocks the lever 51, and the lever 51 in turn rocks the lever 52, the hooked end of the latter thereby being withdrawn from engagement with the lever 53. The latter is thus released, and under the influence of a spring 54, moves the bell-crank lever 50 into position to cause the lug 49 to recedc from the latch 48, whereu on the,

spring 44 moves the belt shifter 42 1nto position to shift the belt from the driving pulley 40 to the loose ping the machine.

The. mechanism for vertically moving the pulley 41, thereby stopclutch 23 is not illustrated, as the same forms no part of my invention.

The subject matter of this application is divided out of an application filed by me May 17, 1912. Serial No. 697,861, in which said subject matter is shown and described but not claimed.

driven shaft and havin Havin now fully described my invention, what I aim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, driving connections between the two shafts, mechanism to stop the rotation of the driving shaft, a rod extending axially within-the driven shaft, connections between the rod and the stop mechanism, and normally operative yielding driving connections between the driven shaft and the rotatable cylinder adapted'to be retracted and rendered inoperative by resistance to rotation of the cylinder and effecta lcn itudinal movement of said rod.

2. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, of

a rotatable member in driving enga ement with the cylinder, a driven shaft on t e axis of the rotatable member, a driving shaft.

driving connections between the twoshafts,-

mechanism to sto the rotation of the driving shaft, normal operative drivin ncctions between t c driven shaft an said rotatable member adapted tobe rendered inoperative to drive by resistance to rota 7 tion of the cylinder and said rotatable member,and normally inoperative means carried by the driven shaft and adapted to actuate the stop-mechanism and to be operatedby said yielding driving-connections (vyhen the latter are rendered inoperative to rive.

3. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder and a gear carried thereb of a gear in driving engagement with t e first gear, a. driven shaft, a spider carried by the shaft, 'means carried by the spider inielding driving engagement with the second gear, adriving shaft, driving connections betweenthe two shafts, mechanism to sto the rotation of the driving shaft, means olding said stop mechanism from action and normally ongaging said yielding driving means but adapted, when the yielding driving means is actuated by resistance to rotation of the gears, to be operated. by the yielding driving means to dictate the operation of said step mechanism.

4. In a circular knitting machine, .the combination with a rotatable cylinder, of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, driving connections between the two shafts, mechanism to stop'the rotation of the'driving shaft,

normally operative driving connect-ions between the driven shaft and the rotatable cylinder including a spring-pressed latch adapted. to be retracted and thus rendered of said latch the rod will be moved longitudinally, and connections between said rod and the stop mechanism ada ted to render the latter operative in the said actuation of said rod.

5. In a circular knittin machine, the combination with a rotatab e cylinder, of a rotatable member in driving engagement with the cylinder, a driven shaft on the axis of the rotatable member, a driving shaft, driving connections between the two shafts, mechanism to stop the rotation of the driving shaft, a rod extending axially within the driven shaft, and a spring pressed latch having beveled faces engaging respectively a beveled driving face on said rotatable member and a beveled driving face on the rod whereby said latch will be retracted and actuate said rod under given resistance to rotation of said rotatable member, and connections between said rod and the stop mechanism adapted to render the latter operative in the said actuation of said rod.

6. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, of a rotatable member in driving enga ement with the cylinder, a driven shaft on t e axis of the rotatable member, a driving shaft, driving connections between the two shafts, mechanism to sto the rotation of the driving shaft, a rod a spring-pressed latch having beveled faces engaging respectively a beveled driving face on said rotatable member and a beveled driving face on said rod, whereby, under given resistance to rotation of said rotatable member, said latch will be retracted and actuate said rod in a longitudinal direction, and connections between said rod and the stop mechanism adapted to render the latter operative in the said actuation of said rod.

7. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, of a rotatable ring the upper part of which is in driving engagement with the cylinder, a driven shaft on the axis of the ring, a cupshaped casing in which the lower part of the ring rotates and through which said shaft projects, a rod extending axially within said shaft and through said casing, a latch within the casing and extending between and yieldingly engaging said ring and rod whereby the latch will be actuated to actuate said rod under given resistance to rotation of said cylinder and ring, a driving shaft, driving connections therefrom to the driven shaft, mechanism to stop the rotation of the driving shaft, and connections between said rod and stop mechanism adapted to render the latter operative in the actuation of said rod.

8. In a circular knittin machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder and a rotatable sinker head, of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, driving connections between the two shafts, mechanism to stop the rotation of the driving shaft, normally operative yieldin driving connections between the driven s aft and the rotatable cylinder and sinker head adapted to be rendered inoperative to drive by resistance to rotation of the cylinder or sinker head, and means holding said stop mechanism from action and normally engaging said yielding driving connections but adapted, when said yielding driving connections are so rendered inoperative to drive, to be operated by the yielding driving connections to dictate the operation of said sto mechanism.

In testimony of w ich invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Phila., on this 25th day of October, 1912.

HARRY A. HOUSEMAN.

Witnesses:

P. R. RAHM, W. P. BROCKERMANN, Jr. 

